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Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney dodges Gaza question (and how long can he get away with that?)

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney

Our congressman is Sean Patrick Maloney. He used to live on Phil’s road. Ours is a swing district in the Hudson Valley, but Sean as everyone calls him once worked for Bill Clinton and is socially progressive. He’s been a leader on gay rights and on women’s rights. He’s married to a guy who works on prison issues. He spent a year doing social work in South America and is dedicated to fighting racism. Sean embodies our political values, and we believe he knows what’s going on in Palestine, knows about the human rights debacle for Palestinians.

Sean is up against Nan Hayworth, a Republican who held this district two years ago; and fundraising is a big concern. We can only guess what the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Steve Israel– Sean’s House colleague who just went out to Israel to kiss Netanyahu’s ring– has told him about where the money is.

But Sean has kept his mouth firmly clamped on Gaza. He’s said nothing on his twitter feed; though he did say this about the conflict six weeks ago:

He even put out a statement about those Israeli teens. Not a word about Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir, who was murdered a day later, also in territory Israel illegally occupies.

Then two weeks ago, Sean voted to send another $225 million to Israel, joining 394 other congresspeople. Eight brave reps voted against, from both parties: Jim Moran, Justin Amash, Walter Jones, Keith Ellison, Thomas Massie, Zoe Lofgren, Beto O’Rourke, Mark Sanford.

Joan was so upset by that vote, she wrote to Sean and sent him the speech in Austin, TX, in which Rania Masri addressed President Obama’s claim about “barbaric” action by Hamas and pointed out the countless barbaric acts by Israel. Joan said:

We would like to know your position on this subject and more important arrange a meeting with you to discuss the implications of using our tax dollars to support this truly shameful and barbaric war.

Sean wrote back and completely ducked her ask.

Dear Dr. Turner,

Thank you for contacting me about our nation’s foreign policy. As your representative in Congress, I appreciate hearing your thoughts on the issues most important to my neighbors in the Hudson Valley.

Our foreign policy must always reflect our national security priorities and our American values like freedom and democracy. Key to this strategy is supporting our ally Israel, which is essential for security in the Middle East. I am also deeply concerned about the ongoing conflict in Syria as well as Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons capability. I currently support the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act, which would strengthen and expand enforcement of current sanctions on Iran. We must look at solving conflicts through diplomacy before they divulge into large-scale crises that could cost American lives….

Thank you again for sharing your views with me. My staff and I are here to help, so please contact my office to let me know how we can best serve you, either in Washington or at home in the Hudson Valley.

This evasion and blindness can’t last.

There are strong signs that the Democratic rank-and-file have had enough. They don’t think Israel embodies our values of “freedom and democracy,” as Sean contends; in fact, they think our blind support is undermining U.S. security. Polls show that young Americans and people of color say that Israel was unjustified in its Gaza onslaught, by a two-to-one ratio, and Democrats and Independents are against it by a huge margin.

And yes the New York donor class Sean has to cater to now may be supporting the massacre, but even the political elites are changing. Look at the floor demonstration at the last Democratic convention: all the delegates who got noisy and angry as the Democratic leadership railroaded a platform clause saying that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital.

We know a lot of people like that who live in the Hudson Valley. “The rockets Hamas is firing are about as effective as the rockets we shoot on the Fourth of July,” a local contractor said at a dinner party on Sean’s old road Friday night.

Folks who are disturbed by the Gaza onslaught are going to make themselves heard. We’re going to do whatever we can to get them heard, by liberal politicians.

We’re waiting for an east coast politician to break over the massacre, and say, Enough, I’m not giving them money when they’re slaughtering children. We’re waiting for that NY, NJ, MD politician who will join Ellison, Massie, Lofgren, and Jones in the spirit of humanity. Someone’s going to break– why not Sean?

Phil Weiss and Joan Turner are neighbors and friends in New York’s 18th congressional district. 

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That wasn’t an evasion, that was a form letter. He didn’t even bother to ‘evade.’ I think Joan has even more to be upset about.

It is often difficult to determine whether Israel’s congressional supporters are true believers, or more knowledgeable but cowed by the power of the Israel lobby. In my opinion, it usually doesn’t matter anyway. In this case, though, I get a strong sense that Maloney knows what’s going on, but has a genuine fear of losing his seat if he speaks up. His opponent (who used to be my ophthalmologist) waxed rhapsodically about her trip to Israel when she was in office and no doubt would benefit greatly if Maloney were to speak up. Maloney comes from a very insecure district that has swung back and forth for the past couple of decades. Doing the right thing might very well give Hayworth a victory. I know it’s very frustrating but I can’t see much of a surprise here. The eight Congresspeople who voted against the measure all have somewhat more security than Maloney, I would think.

On the other hand, I saw a tweet from Glenn Greenwald a few weeks ago, asking whether there was any member of Congress willing to risk his/her seat by condemning the wanton slaughter of children. Good question.

I think Congress should take over the catholic church’s mantle of “the great whore”

99% of American politicians have to avoid the hysteria of the organized Jewish community.

And Zionist Jews in the Establishment.

So between money and our bankrupt political culture, you simply cannot expect these bought-and-paid-for hacks to be fair and/or honest in anything they say regarding Israel/Palestine.

The further you move away from the pressure of the organized Jewish community – the more open the debate is and the less control Zionism has on a political culture.

He didn’t evade anything – he’s for Israel. He’s for our “national security” blah blah blah.

I think it’s about time for folks with liberal leanings to wake up and realize identity politics is a sham, most of the time it’s a cover for Imperialism. Assuming someone “knows what’s right” because he’s gay or supports “womens issues” is naive, and frankly, stupid, in light of thirty years of Identity Warriors revealing themselves to be war mongers and apologists for the Surveillance State. One might even conclude there’s a quid pro quo with Power: We let “you” in, you support the broad imperial (read military industrial) agenda. Tell me I’m wrong.